How to effectively diagnose and treat tongue cancer? Imaging diagnostic methods for tongue cancer

Tongue cancer is a common malignant tumor in the oral and maxillofacial region, and is more common in men than in women. For the diagnosis and treatment of tongue cancer, imaging examinations such as X-rays, tomography, and CT are of diagnostic value in determining the scope of tongue cancer invasion. Next, let's learn about various imaging examinations for tongue cancer.

Comparison of imaging diagnostic methods for tongue cancer

1. CT examination

Early lesions are difficult to detect in CT examinations, the scope of larger lesions is unclear, and enhanced scanning of lesions is different due to different blood supply, which is prone to false positives or false negatives. In addition, CT examinations have a single scanning section, poor display of soft tissues, and are easily affected by involuntary movements of the tongue and mandible. The tongue tissue display on the image is not ideal, and the diagnostic value is limited. The ability to detect lymph node metastasis in the early stage is limited.

2. MRI

MRI shows that the lesion is a localized tumor with clear or unclear lesion margins. The tumor shows T1 and T2 signals, and there is mild to moderate edema around the lesion. Enhanced scanning shows obvious enhancement, mild enhancement, or ring-shaped enhancement. The lesion range appears larger than the actual lesion, and the ability to identify lesions is greater than CT, and the false positive and false negative rates are significantly lower than CT.

3. pET-CT examination

pET-CT displays lesions from the perspective of metabolic function. It is significantly better than the previous two in displaying the morphology and range of lesions, and the display range is significantly larger than the actual range of the lesions, which is suitable for determining the scope of surgery. There are no false positives or false negatives. It can also better detect lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis, and is the best method for imaging examination of tongue cancer. pET-CT scanning has obvious advantages over simple CT plain scan diagnosis in the diagnosis of tongue cancer. In view of the high sensitivity and high specificity of pET in the diagnosis of head and neck malignant tumors, a medical center in Germany has listed pET as a routine examination item for the diagnosis of head lymph node metastasis. However, it is expensive and only suitable for some people.

4. Ultrasound

Ultrasound can show the boundary of lesions through the difference in grayscale values. Even a very small mass can be distinguished as long as there is a grayscale difference and the operator is familiar with the anatomy of the affected area and can examine it carefully. In addition, intraoral ultrasound examination directly places the probe on the surface of the tumor, making imaging more direct. Therefore, the biggest advantage of ultrasound over CT and MR is the detection of small lesions. High-frequency ultrasound percutaneous suprahyoid examination method can clearly image the important structures of the tongue and floor of the mouth, with a detection rate of 100% for tongue cancer lesions and an accuracy rate of 93.54% for T staging based on the size of the cancer.

Other Tests for Tongue Cancer

1. Pathological cytology examination: Exfoliative cytology examination confirms that the cancer cells are cancer cells, which is helpful for the diagnosis of this disease. More than 95% of tongue cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, while adenocarcinomas from salivary glands are rare; and the proportion of adenocarcinomas in tongue root cancer can be as high as more than 30%. If the submandibular and cervical lymph nodes are swollen, a biopsy can be performed to confirm whether there is metastasis.

2. Cervical lymph node biopsy. Tongue cancer often metastasizes to the cervical lymph nodes, especially under the digastric muscle and submandibular. The neck should be carefully examined and a cervical lymph node biopsy should be performed when necessary, which is of certain significance in the diagnosis and staging of the disease.